Political life in the canton of Berne

Autor(en): [s.n.]

Objekttyp: Article

Zeitschrift: The Swiss observer : the journal of the Federation of Swiss Societies in the UK

Band (Jahr): - (1963)

Heft 1436

PDF erstellt am: 05.10.2021

Persistenter Link: http://doi.org/10.5169/seals-694276

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http://www.e-periodica.ch 50630 THE SWISS OBSERVER 26th July 1963

POLITICAL LIFE IN THE CANTON OF BERNE The Cantonal Government of Berne accepted the with the country's interests or even safety, in which case accounts for 1962, which showed a surplus of permission to enter will be withheld. Fr. 1,031,384.—. The desirability of a new airport in Berne was stressed An Initiative has been launched successfully by the in order to connect the capital with international airports. Liberal-Democratic Party, which requests that the law of The Cantonal Grand Council of Berne also considered 2nd May 1880 governing stamp and banknote duty should and agreed to a credit of Fr.314,000.— to equip a Can- be abolished by the end of next year with the exception tonal Water Police (Seepolizei), which has become a of ticket duty. Twelve thousand signatures were needed, necessity on account of the increasing traffic on lakes and but 29,486 active citizens of the Canton of Berne signed waterways. The present police force cannot cope with the Initiative. additional duties on the water, nor are the available boats A campaign was launched by the Bernese Cantonal adequate to use in stormy weather. Various craft are the Fisheries' Association for a cantonal constitutional Initia- necessary to navigate different types of waters, also ice and im- tive demanding a say for the people when water concessions flood-lamps, levering instruments, ropes, saws are given. The aim of this is to let the people decide proved radio equipment. how far proposed waterworks should interfere with the In 1953 the Canton celebrated the 600th anniversary of joining the Confederation. To mark this jubilee the landscape and natural water reserves. This would not " only be in the interests of fishing, but above all would be Cantonal Parliament created a fund, Bernisches Hilfs- added a question of how much should be abandoned to technical werk ", of a million francs to which were contribu- requirements and what should be preserved. tions by communes and individuals. Since then the capital has shrunk and the Bernese Government to On 25th/26th May the Canton of Berne had to vote now proposes Parliament to donate another million to this fund in order on three proposals, which were all accepted. The so-called adequately to help and worthy invalids. " Melioration Bill " is the basis for a uniform order for poor Parliament also 34 for citizen- all soil improvement, agricultural buildings, of accepted applications joining up of the Canton and considered the amendment to the vineyards and forests, improvement of alpine land, ship pasture regulations of the clergy of the Bernese State Church. as well as special measures in mountain regions. pay The Young Bernese Party asked for the setting-up of a The second concerned a of 4.8 mil- proposal subsidy commission to consider aesthetic questions of new building lion francs for a new nurses' training school of the Red projects. The hire of a new electronic computer for uni- Cross Institution at the Lindenhof. The comprises project versity and cantonal administration was agreed to, as was a new hospital and a nursing college on the Neufeld on a jubilee gift to the Red Cross of a quarter of a million the border of the Bremgarten Forest, a costly scheme of francs. which only the training school is entitled to a subsidy. Water pollution and road construction were on the Thirdly, a credit of 2.5 million francs was granted agenda of the spring session, which ended on 16th May, by the electorate towards the erection of a cantonal ad- when the old President, Councillor Blaser (Socialist) from ministration building at Delsberg. Urtenen, retired. The new " Grossratspräsident " will be In its annual report the executive authority of the Hans Will (Farmers' Party) from Ursenbach. Canton of Berne indicated for the first time the type of offices in business or welfare undertakings its members TOWN OF BERNE hold apart from their government appointments. The nine The 1962 the Berne closed " Regierungsräte " show a variety of interests varying be- accounts for of town of tween five and twenty-eight different offices each, naturally with a surplus of Fr.616,053.— with a total income of with an equally varying demand on the individual council- Fr.138,184,693.—. citizens lor's time. In 1962 the Council held 105 meetings and the On 26th May the of the capital had to vote six which all covered number of business transactions went up from 756 in 1961 on proposals, were accepted. They to 9,099 last year! the sale, purchase and exchange of land, the sanctioning of a further credit for the building of a new agricultural Equally busy was the Cantonal Parliament, whose settlement in the Elfenau, and the extension of a new affairs varied from working out new standing orders open- (in- air gymnasium in the Marzilimoos. eluding shortening of speakers' time) to measures intended A month later nine were before the elec- to relieve the shortage of primary school teachers. Since proposals torate, and again all were accepted. The new " Gemeinde- February over 21m. francs have been granted towards Ordnung " are new standing regulations which replace 34 school building projects as well as large subsidies to those of 1920. The most important changes are that no various hospital building schemes. A million was voted employee can hold a office, that two for as the Canton's contribution to the EXPO 1964. municipal political new departments Direktionen have been created The debated (" ") water problem was which arose in some (health and economic affairs), that the term of office be mountain last regions year when communes incurred limited also for commissions and that the limit of financial extraordinarily high expenditure for transporting water competence be raised. from far Since 1957 the Canton had away. supported Other proposals concerned sports grounds, swimming twenty-eight water supplies and under more projects are baths and two artificial ice rinks, as well as a credit of way. nearly Fr.600,000.— for the parking terrace, " Grosse The agricultural advice service was recommended for Schanze ", which will be above part of the new main extension, and a " winterproof " road connection between station. the Oberland and Italy was asked for. The Town Council had the usual heavy agenda to deal The problem of East-West cultural relations was dis- with. All the above-mentioned proposals had to be cussed and it was found undesirable to allow cultural worked out before going to the Sovereign as the people are propaganda actions by Communist states if they interfere called. Money was granted for civil defence posts, a 26th July 1963 THE SWISS OBSERVER 50631 jubilee gift to "Pro Juventute", Fr.200,000.— as a con- which provides for a free strip of 15 metres along the tribution to the cultural fund of the National Exhibition, lakeside. The Spiez electorate accepted an expensive and a subsidy to the Municipal Theatre. The business project for a new shooting range. dealt with included the town's the gas supply, appoint- Thun's electors said " yes " to several proposals on educational the ment of committees, serious condition of two polling days in May and June. They included road the installations of the suburb of sanitary growing Buemp- corrections and the renewal of debenture loans of over and increased in liz, parking problems difficulties recruiting five million francs, a partial revision of the service and the force, and the issue men for police adult education, of salary regulations, as well as the extension of the Neufeld special passes for school-children to prevent those under school area. age from gaining access to cinemas. The last meeting of the present session of the Berne JURA BERNOIS Municipal Parliament took place on 29th June. The Jura Bernois is the Incidentally, it may be of interest to us Swiss abroad mainly French-speaking to know that a member of the Berne Commune Council region in the north-west of the Canton, roughly beyond is President of the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad. He the line created by the Lake of Bienne and the southern is the Municipal Director of Finance, Dr. G. Schuerch. part of the Canton of which protrudes deeply into that of Berne. It consists of seven administrative BIENNE districts, Porrentruy in the far north-eastern corner, Bienne is another town whose accounts for the last Franches Montagnes with its chief town of Saignelégier the year showed a surplus — of Fr. 1,612,231.—. bordering on to Canton of Neuchâtel in the south, On 26th May the town electorate of Bienne accepted Courtelary which includes the St. Imier Valley, the district of the Lake of amongst other proposals one to erect a district old age on Bienne, further north the settlement at Mett, to which the town will contribute two towns of and Delémont and lastly the Fr. 1,285,000.—. German-speaking town of Laufen close to the Cantons The Municipal Council dealt with the serious state of Solothurn and Baselland. It is in this part of the Canton of the water supply from the old Aare. The two dangers of Berne that a movement has been active with the aim of a Canton. are the waste waters of the sugar refinery at Aarberg and establishing separate This movement must be " the new motor road Biel-Lyss where the accident of a not confused with the Association Romande " in tanker lorry with subsequent seeping of petrol into the Berne, whose members are largely federal civil servants. water supplies could be catastrophic for the whole " Lake- This group made intensive studies last autumn regarding the land District ", and a new drinking water source, possibly position of the French-speaking civil servant in the from the lake, has to be studied. service of the Confederation. There are certain difficulties, as the Romand is The town's contribution to the EXPO is a per cap/to especially more reluctant to leave his the sum of Fr.1.10 — a total of Fr.70,000.—. The new central part of country and generally does not learn the Swiss dialects. So in the federal service fire brigade depot and police garage at the Mattenstrasse naturally and various was officially opened on 1st July. The basement houses parliamentary commissions which are mainly stationed in an air-raid shelter for 240 people and repair workshops. Berne and other German-speaking parts, the French- element is sometimes The Commune Council asks for a quarter of a million speaking a little neglected. Berne has francs to buy a building in the Jurastrasse which will enable now a French school which should encourage French- transfer the the authorities to do away with the bottle-neck to trolley speaking civil servants to to capital. buses. The Civil Defence in Bienne at the moment only The separatist movement in the Canton of Berne has has 700 members — but 14,000 are needed. A widespread quite different aims and objects, though even it objected campaign was organised to get prospective members. to the resolution which the Congress of Dijon on French Due to the extreme cold at the beginning of the year, ethnical questions (" Ethnie Française ") took in June and between 20,000 and 200,000 rats left their lakeside haunts which asked that the integrity of the French-speaking for the sewage tunnels of the town. In order to exterminate peoples like the Walloons, the French-speaking citizens of the vermin an extensive operation has been started and Brussels, the inhabitants of the Jura and the Aosta Valley vast quantities of poison have been put down. be not interfered with. Let there be no mistake, the Jurassiens are good Swiss and there is no doubt some justi- OTHER COMMUNES fication in their contention that their culture, spiritual From many Bernese communes the accounts for 1962 inheritance, church and economics, literature and art are have come in — all of them with a favourable balance. different from those of the rest of the Canton of Berne. The electorate of Burgdorf decided that the office of There are some institutions which are purely cultural, such the Municipal President should become full-time. as the "Institut Jurassien des Sciences, Lettres et des Arts". At Hindelbank citizens decided to accept the more There is the " A.D.I J." (Association for the defence of expensive of two projects for a secondary school. Accord- Jurassien interests) which concerns itself with Jura prob- ing to electors' decision Jegenstorf, Lyss and Roggwil are lems. For instance, it has recently asked for a north-south to have a Commune Hall. The Langenthal electorate rail connection through the Jura, joining Muttenz with accepted a credit to erect a transformer station. Proposals Domodossola, which would relieve the heavy St. Gotthard have also been put forward for a Youth Parliament. traffic. This organisation most strongly condemns the At Langnau in the Emmental the citizens voted the militant actions of the "Front de Libération Jurassien" required credit to build a water-purifying plant and a which fights with fair and unfortunately also foul means bridge over the lifts. Langnau is one of the Swiss com- against the " domineering rulers in Berne ". The other munes whose citizens even have to pass the annual separatist movement, the "Rassemblement Jurassien", also accounts. seeks autonomy but by democratic and legal means. It The extraordinary commune assembly of Spiez organises meetings and festivals and fights for what it rejected an Initiative for the protection of the " Schachen- believes to be the Jurassien rights. For instance, it strongly matte " from being built over, but accepted a new plan protested against the deposition of a military officer 50632 THE SWISS OBSERVER 26th July 1963

(Colonel Berberat) who had taken an active part in a separatist demonstration whilst on leave and in " civvies But this organisation, too, deplores the actions of the " Front de Libération Jurassien Another organisation, called "Pro Jura", also con- Switzerland demns the ways and means the " Libération " uses, and its new president has recently made an appeal for a general " armistice " including government, political parties, Can- tonal Parliament, Church and Press. Our And finally, there is a union of Jura patriots, Country " L'Union des Patriotes Jurassiens ", which is an anti- separatist movement, and the communiqué which it issued at its annual meeting last October puts the whole problem nutshell. refers the 1959 Your in a to 5th Next It two polls on July and 27th May last year in which the Jura people decisively opposed the practices of the separatist movements by defeating four Initiatives with a two-thirds majority. This showed, the resolution stated, that the Jura did not want Holiday a separation; on the contrary, it wished that all agitation should be stopped. (Based o/i reporfs rece/ved èy coarfesy o/ die Agence ré/e'grap/i/çae baisse.) Destination EXPO 1964 1st August

The Geneva firm, Infranor, was awarded first prize, together with the jury's congratulations, for its entry in the Swiss competition for ideas for the presentation of " Light " in the Energy Section of the Electricity Group at the Swiss National Exhibition 1964. The prize-winning project consists of an illuminated construction some 33 feet high a sinusoids National depicting tungsten atom out of which in the Day six colours of the spectrum, violet, blue, green, yellow, orange and red, spiral vertically upwards; above the spirals are rectangular elements in the same colours, the whole topped by a triangle of white light. Through the trans- parent walls, this illuminated device will be visible from both sides of the building. A striking feature of this original decorative element will be the dynamism of its lines, especially the upward movement of the coloured lights. It promises to be one of the attractions at the 1964 National Exhibition in Lausanne. [O.S.E.C.] NEW SWISS MAPS The Federal Office of Topography in Berne has been able to continue the issue of the new Swiss map on a scale 1:50,000. It will take a few more years for the series to be completed. New sections of the map of the alpine regions (1:25,000) have been published, and the new sections of the 1:100,000 map have been improved by special road markings, which should interest motorists. Other new publications are " Icao Aerial Map of Switzerland " (1:500,000), afforestation maps and section two of the Aletschglacier map. [a.t.s.] Swiss National Tourist Office 458 Strand, London W.C. 2

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